Ryan Beckwith, sacrificed at Bakersfield College, heads to Cal State Bakersfield to work in the athletic department, and more readers lament the trash on our streets

 * ... BECKWITH: It looks like former Bakersfield College Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith has landed on his feet. Beckwith, who was forced out at BC after the football team was stripped of its championship because of program violations, is joining Cal State Bakersfield as a strength and

conditioning trainer in the athletic department. CSUB Athletic Director Jeff Konya said Beckwith will likely start as a part-time employee. Beckwith was only at Bakersfield College for two years, and many thought he was unfairly painted as the fall guy for program violations that had been going on for many years.

 * ... TRASH: Some things are just too hard to believe. Consider this note from Patricia Seymour: she was taking a walk down Panorama Drive near Thorner School when she spotted a white pickup with a black trailer pull into an open field. And sure enough, the occupants dumped a full load of trash right in the open field. She called Bakersfield police and the dispatcher insisted she had to witness the incident, which she had. "I realize there are other emergency calls... so we started walking home and at Fairfax we saw three detective cars driving from the north. We figured they had been out practice shooting at Hart Park or to a meeting.  I don't know if detectives go out on calls but as I am a multi-tasker and I figured they could have dropped by to at least give warning to these dumpers. The area at the end of Panorama Drive is constantly being dumped on. It's a sad sight when one is trying to exercise and enjoy the great outdoors."

 * ... MORE TRASH: And speaking of trash, Ken Barnes has been going to Canada to hunt for more than 25 years. "On our 40-mile drive from the airport in Edmonton to the town of Tofield, it would be unusual to see more than three or four pieces of litter along the highway for the entire trip. And they do not use clean-up crews....the people just do not litter!"

 *... OVERHEARD: On the first day of school, a mother tells her teary-eyed kindergarten daughter that she must go to her class or the school will call the police and her parents will go to prison.

 * ... SPOTTED: Having a bite to eat at The Padre Hotel bar the other day were Supervisor Leticia Perez, fresh off her loss in the 16th state Senate district runoff, and Roy Ashburn, who also is recovering from his loss in a supervisor's race.

 * ... CALAHAN: Former KGET reporter Tim Calahan is back in the business, joining KERO TV as a breaking news reporter in the afternoon and the 11 p.m. co-anchor along with Jackie Parks. Calahan had most recently been with the Kern County Mission.

 * ... MEMORIES: A walk down memory lane with Gene Bonas on the old Andre's Drive-in. "The Andre family ran both Andre's Drive-Ins and the Garces High School cafeteria.  Mary Andre managed the Niles Street Andre's, Joe managed the Brundage Lane Andre's, and John managed the Garces cafeteria and filled in when Mary or Joe needed time off... My memory of Andre's on Brundage had to do with two Garces students who worked at the restaurant.  A close friend of mine ran the grill ensuring all the food was cooked to perfection.  I can still taste the hamburgers and fries that (my friend) made and snuck to me out the back door without anyone's knowledge."

Is Bakersfield College Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith being set up to be fired? And will he go quietly in the night? Stay tuned.

 * ... BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE: The real story up at Bakersfield College is not that its appeal of the punishing football sanctions has been rejected, but rather the behind-the-scenes drama in finding someone to blame for the whole mess. Insiders tell me that President Sonya Christian is fingering Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith as the fall guy, even though he has been in town just two years and some of the practices that offended the Southern California Football Association have been ongoing for years, all under the watch of Chancellor Sandra Serrano, a former BC president herself. If all this was going on before Beckwith was hired, who is responsible for that? Although still relatively new, Beckwith has gained the respect and confidence of many of BC's most influential supporters, but it likely won't be enough to save his job. If this is our equivalent of The Red Wedding massacre episode in the HBO hit Game of Thrones, something tells me Beckwith will not go quietly. Stay tuned. (file photos of Beckwith, Christian)

* ... TOUGH KITTY: On a lighter note, don't you wish we had more people in our community like Ralph Robles? He's the man who rescued a scrawny stray kitten who survived a harrowing ride under the hood of his car. In case you missed it: Robles was cruising down Olive Drive recently when his car suddenly lost power and he was forced to pull to the side of the road. What started as an inconvenience on a scorchingly hot Bakersfield day turned into something that touched his heart. The source of the problem: a small black and white kitten who had crawled into the engine area and got its paw caught in a belt. Worried the cat was near death, Robles flagged down a friendly sheriff's deputy who helped him free the injured kitten. Animal control was then called but the officer told Robles that the kitten would likely be euthanized if taken to the county shelter. "I just could not allow a cat that survived a 20-mile ride in a hot house engine compartment and getting tangled with a moving engine belt be put down after such a heroic fight to live," he said. The kitten was taken to a local veterinarian who treated her broken leg with antibiotics and a splint. "We are calling it TK (for Tough Kitty) until we find its real forever family. It responds to any hand that touches it with love and drags itself to whoever offers a caress. Gentle and loving, it was tough enough to win a fight with a 4,000 pound car." Now that is a happy ending.

* ... OVERHEARD: A woman is overheard sharing the secrets of a long marriage with a friend. "My pool man has been married for over 40 years. When I asked him what the secret was, he told me, 'Once you give up hope, everything is okay.'" Yikes.

 * ... DIGNAN: Melissa Dignan, the popular former weather forecaster for KERO TV, has joined Watson Realty as a residential sales agent. Dignan worked for KERO TV for almost four years before her contract was not renewed. She is married to Brian Dignan, a coach for the Bakersfield Christian High School basketball team.

* ... BURGER JOINT: Riley Parker remembers the old hamburger drive-in that was located on Golden State just north of Farmer John's Pancake House. He said it was named Jumbo Burger and he was a regular then while serving as a Bakersfield police motorcycle officer. "I shared many cups of coffee there with ‘old-timers’ such as Alan Zachary, Dale Parnell, Jerry Vanderpool, Dave Schieber, Danny Shrider, and a host of other fine men in blue."


 * ... SECRET SAUCE: Back in the day one of the best hamburgers in town could be found at Billy Bob's Burgers. Cheryle DeMarco was a regular there and talked the owners into sharing their secret sauce before the place closed. "I would see them spray something out of big white spray bottle right before the burger's were done. They were so good. I use this sauce on almost any red meat I barbecue now. It is three quarters Worcestershire sauce and one quarter liquid smoke. Salt and pepper your meat, then spray this on when almost done. I also use it as a marinade."

Bakersfield College appeals the punishment for its football program, and local folks wonder if someone will have to pay the price for it

 * ... ALARM SYSTEMS: Here is an important tip about home alarm systems in the city of Bakersfield, compliments of reader Gary Crabtree. "Saturday evening we returned from dinner about 6:30 to find our alarm activated and a message from our alarm company on our answering machine that our front door had been breached." he wrote. "We found nothing missing. A call to the alarm company indicated that they
had called the police. At 9:30 p.m. an officer arrived at our front door. He indicated that he just got the call from dispatch. We were told that if we didn’t renew our alarm permit with the city every year for $30 they may or may not respond.  So a warning, if you expect BPD to respond to your alarm system, better cough up $30 a year to the city."

 * ... THE BUZZ: It's good to see Bakersfield College appealing the punishing sanctions against its football program, but folks are wondering if someone will be sacrificed because of the harsh penalties. If BC Athletic Director Ryan Beckwith is fired over all this, it won't be because he has lost the support of the BC Helmet Club. Paul Pavletich, president of the booster club, made it clear on First Look with Scott Cox that the club supports Beckwith and would not agree with his dismissal. Stay tuned as this story unfolds.

* ... ACHIEVER: Another local Bakersfield product has gone on to make quite a name for himself in the healthcare industry. Dr. Jason Dinger has been identified as one of the top 300 most influential people in U.S. health care, according to a recent survey by ModernHealthcare.com. Dinger graduated from Bakersfield Christian High School and went on to Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He is currently CEO of Mission Point Health Partners in Nashville. His father, Steven Dinger, is president of BCHS and his mother Nancy is a social worker at Koinonia Family Services.

 * ... GIVING: Yet another example of the generosity of our local Rotary clubs. The Waterman Foundation of the Rotary Club of Bakersfield (the downtown club) has awarded nearly $40,000 in capital improvement grants to nine local non profits. Among the recipients were the Alliance Against Family Violence, the Bakersfield Music Theater, the Buena Vista Museum, the Boys and Girls Club, CASA, the Golden Empire Gleaners, the Kern County Museum, MARE and San Joaquin Community Hospital.

 * ... HOSPICE: If you are looking for a way to support a good cause and enjoy a nice glass of wine, mark this Thursday, May 23, on your calendar. That's the date of the "Optimal Cares Wine Tasting and Concert" set for the Bakersfield Museum of Art at 5:30 p.m. It is a fund raiser for the Optimal Hospice Foundation. Tickets are $75 each and can be purchased by calling Cherie Shoemake at (661) 716-8000.

  * ... MEMORIES: Brian Landis said his 85-year old grandmother, Elizabeth "Bette" Crume, wanted to share this memory about when everyone would leave their back doors open so Wayne's Dairy could deliver fresh milk to your refrigerator while you were either sleeping or away from home. She is, thank you, a faithful reader of The Bakersfield Californian and said she enjoys reading Herb Benham's column but worries for his kids. "She wanted to be sure to let you know that she thinks John Arthur is a smart-ass!" Brian said. I will make sure both Herb and John get the message, Brian.

Burglaries, break-ins and thefts are exploding across Bakersfield as California's prison realignment program dumps hundreds of felons onto our streets

* ... CRIME: Hardly a day goes by when I don't hear a story of a burglary, break-in or some type of petty theft that seem to happen anywhere and everywhere across town. In the past week alone a couple in Westchester awoke to find a man on drugs standing in their kitchen, a friend in Oleander returned to find his entire house and garage ransacked and a reader in The Oaks had his truck broken into. District Attorney Lisa Green told me that the total number of "complaint requests" (potential crimes passed to her office from Bakersfield area police agencies) has jumped a whopping 33 percent over this time last year. She attributed it directly to the ongoing prison realignment program that is dumping hundreds of lower level offenders on our streets. "It's not a popular thing to say," she told me, "but people who would otherwise be in state prison are out there committing crimes." (file photo Lisa Green)

* ... BECKWITH: I chatted recently with Ryan Beckwith, the (relatively) new athletic director at Bakersfield College. Along with his counterpart at CSUB, Jeff Konya, these two men have brought new energy to our local colleges. One side note about Beckwith that you may not know: he was training to make the U.S. Olympic decathlon team when he decided to take the Bakersfield College job. (file photo of Ryan Beckwith)

* ... SPOTTED: Hats off to the middle aged woman who was spotted on the Panorama Bluffs early Monday morning, picking up the trash that other people who park along Panorama had tossed from their cars.

 * ... MORE KETCHUP! Longtime Bakersfield resident R. Bussard wrote that he was at the Chevron and McDonald's at Rosedale Highway and Allen Road on Monday when he heard a loud, angry voice coming from a grey Ford Excursion parked at the curb. "She was loudly complaining to someone in the vehicle that she ordered a hamburger with ketchup only" but received an "(expletive) cheeseburger" instead, yelling at the occupant to get out and change the order.  "...With that the back door opened and a 7 or 8 year old girl climbed out with the wrong burger in hand and went inside.  I was standing 40 to 50 feet away so I turned and looked towards the unhappy lady. She appeared overweight as she waited and used a cell-phone to text.  Soon the youngster came back with the correct sandwich. As she drove off with her mouth full I read the large stencils on the back window: 'Redneck Girls.' Appropriate."

 * ... TUTTI FRUITTI: I finally ventured over to the Tutti Fruitti yogurt shop on a steaming Saturday recently and learned what the fuss was all about. Folks in the Southwest have been raving about this place for months, and its two-for-one Daily Deal offer in the Californian set an all-time record for sales. Well, it's worth it. Check it out in the Town and Country Shopping Center at the corner of Gosford Road and Stockdale Highway the next time you need a refreshing snack.

* ... QUAKE MEMORIES: Linda Harden Brammer was living in Alameda when the great earthquake of 1952 hit, and she remembers the initial false reports that the oilfields west of Bakersfield had been set on fire. "My grandparents and several aunts, uncles and cousins lived in Taft at the time and my mom was worried sick. Phone lines were down and calls just did not go through. My dad got emergency leave from the Navy and our family made a trip down to Taft. Of course, everyone was okay. While we were down here, we made a trip around the area and took many photos, even going up to Tehachapi and photographing the damage there. "

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: You know you're from Bakersfield if "you got your television tubes tested at the Thrifty's in Hillcrest."

Local housing market is in a squeeze with bidding wars breaking out on homes and a man literally gives "the shirt off his back" to a homeless man in Oildale

* ... HOUSING: Last week I cited a Realtor.com report on the local housing market, indicating as many as 1,815 homes were on the market locally. That triggered responses from local experts saying the real number was actually much lower. Here's appraiser Gary Crabtree, one of the leading experts on our local market: "In June, there were only 545 homes on the market, not 1,815 and it’s down 32 percent from the same period last year. There is an extreme undersupply of active listings on the market when you consider that the number of active listings comprise 0.4 percent of the total single family homes in Bakersfield. The main reason for the discrepancy is that they count homes with accepted contingent offers on them as active listings. There are bidding wars on homes with 2 to 4 offers not uncommon, but prices are being held in check by the restrictive appraisal practices mandated by Fannie and the continued use of 'distressed' sales as comparable."

  * ... SPOTTED: This heart warming encounter was related to me by reader Darlene Stewart: "On a recent trip to the Oildale Post Office I observed a man with no shirt (possibly homeless) asking directions to the morgue, because his brother had just died. He asked a couple driving out of the post office parking lot about directions to the morgue. They in turn asked me and I directed them next door to Mish Funeral Home. The gentleman in the car, not wanting him to have to go into the funeral home without a shirt, took his shirt off and offered it to him but he did not want to accept it. The gentleman wouldn’t take no for an answer and just slipped it over his head. This is the only time I have ever witnessed someone literally 'giving the shirt off his back.'"

* ... SPAY-NEUTER: Good news for all you out there who care about our pets. Bakersfield will soon have its own high-volume, low-cost spay-neuter clinic, called Critters Without Litters. The non-profit group was founded by Joann and Larry Keller, the couple behind the successful “Fix Your Pit” voucher program, which subsidized the cost for over 1,800 pit bulls and pit mixes since 2010. The equipment is on order and staffing is under way for the clinic, which is scheduled to open this fall. The clinic expects to perform 35 to 40 spay and neuter surgeries a day. For more details or to support this program call Larry Keller at (661) 831-6000.

 * ... RADIO: Join me tomorrow at 9 a.m. on Californian Radio KERN 1180 when I will be chatting with Ryan Beckwith, the athletic director at Bakersfield College. We'll be talking about his priorities and the upcoming Gades football season. (file photo of Beckwith)

* ... SUBMARINE: Gene M. Bonas is a Navy veteran and former submariner who is part of a group trying to save the USS Clamagore (SS343), which he called the last Guppy III submarine now destined for the scrap heap. "The Clamagore, commissioned in 1945, has served as a museum since 1981. It played a critical role as a prototype sub and Cold War warrior in helping to develop the technology that truly won the Cold War. Now, the Clamagore needs a $3 million overhaul.  If we, as past and present submariners and Navy veterans, don't save the Clamagore, she will be sold to the highest bidder for scrap or sunk to make an artificial reef." If you want to donate, send a check payable to "Save the Clamagore" to George Bass, 110 River Birch Drive,  Salisbury, N.C. 28146. (file photo of the USS Clamagore)

 * .... BAKERSFIELDISM: From John Strand in Lake Isabella: "You might be a Bakersfield old-timer if you remember the 210-foot 'Eiffel Tower' which stood on the Pacific Telephone building at 20th and Eye streets for many years. It was part of the YJ radiotelephone system which preceded our current cell-phones. Back in the day it was the highest structure in Bakersfield.